teaching boys

"Could you talk about homeschooling boys? My son is driving me crazy! And you have six..." Back when we were on the board of our state homeschool organization, we heard that a lot from support group leaders. It's how we got started speaking and writing about boys and it's still something we hear all the time. "Once boys hit puberty,…

One of our sons has severe dyslexia and didn't read well until he was eleven. Once he got to high school, he realized he'd missed reading a lot of the books his brothers had read. He asked his adult brothers to make a list of the books they thought someone ought to read to be truly…

A friend recently asked, "My oldest is about to get his learner's permit. Should I let him drive our big van in the beginning or just stick to the car? Where should I let him drive? Should we stay away from freeways and things like that?" I have them drive whatever we're driving from the…

The other day, a college president called our boy. That boy. The one I wondered if I'd ever be able to teach him enough to fill out an application to work in fast food. It all started when he was small. I was pretty confident when we started teaching him. His older brothers all learned…

We were just talking the other night about how much we love to read. Want to know what makes us feel rich? A stack of new books from a favorite author and time to dive in. Our kids love books as much as we do. It didn't come naturally to all of them, though. Here…

We all love our kids but there's something that nearly every parent struggles with, something nearly every child does sometimes, and something which some kids do all the time. WHINING. Oh, that awful sound. It's no surprise when a baby cries, and it shouldn't surprise us that a young child whines. A baby has to…

We've always found boys like a challenge and some competition -- who's fastest, strongest, and scores the most points. Here's a program which plays right into that trait: See how much you can write in a month. Several years ago I ran across a peculiar little project. The National Novel Writing Month is a tongue-in-cheek…

A mom asked, "How on earth do I manage my constantly wiggling six year old? This child won't sit still! Family devotions are so stressful - and don't even mention schoolwork or church. What can I do?" I am so with you here! Our youngest, a girl(!) has been one of those churning and burning…

Often we're asked, what do you do about a child who wants to police his younger brother, boss him around, and assume authority over him? Is it ever appropriate for an older sibling to have authority over a younger one? Well, sure -- sometimes your teenager is babysitting the little ones, or driving his…

A reader asks, "I am having a problem with my 8 year old stealing things. He takes small things from people at school as well as things from his little brothers. A few weeks ago he took one of my diamond rings to school. I need some advice on what to do to help him…